Abstract:

While still gaining momentum, BIM is increasingly seen as a critical development in the way buildings are designed and built. BIM is an interactive process and methodology that uses modeling, collaboration and integration to allow design professionals to fully visualize project’s components and structure, as well as to facilitate collaboration between different stakeholders using parametric data (Aksamija, & Ali, 2008). This resulting shared knowledge is used to support decision-making about the facility building life cycle, including pre-design phase, construction, and post-occupation evaluations processes.

However, there are several challenges in its adoption (Gardner et al., 2014; Cheng, 2010; Deamer, 2012; McGraw–Hill Construction, 2009) primarily due to gaps between academic requirements and industry needs.

Therefore the objective of this study is to:
(1) examine the critical gaps between industry needs and preparation of students in interior design programs for an eventual adoption,
(2) explore the impact of BIM implementation in interior design
(3) investigate avenues for effectively incorporating BIM education in interior design programs, and
(4) generate recommendations for incorporating BIM education in interior design programs, while taking into account requirements prescribed by accreditation bodies.

This study adopted a qualitative research method with grounded theory approach, involving semi–structured interviews with open-ended questions. This study employed analytic induction, which is a common technique in qualitative research studies within social sciences (Nachmias, & Nachmias, 1982). The process involved an in-depth analysis of the perceptions regarding deficiencies in BIM pedagogy in addressing contemporary industry needs. The sampling data included nine participants from the design industry and nine participants from academia. The data collected was analyzed in a software suite, NVivo 10. The responses from the participants were coded to map the general themes that subsequently took the central stage in the present research. The generated data was analyzed using thematic analysis.

The findings of this research supports previous studies that indicated several challenges for the adoption of BIM in both academia and industry (Dodge, 2016; Bilbo et al., 2015; Abdelmohsen, 2011). Lack of preparation, knowledge, collaboration, willingness to shift, were some of the challenges to be addressed in this presentation. Other findings, relative to the implementation of BIM in academic and industry settings, will be shared with the conference attendees for feedback.

Keywords:

Building Information Modelling (BIM), Computer-Aided Design (CAD), exploratory, industry, academia.